Canada Ignored & Ridiculed at Durban
Well, no wonder: “While other countries have set up pavilions and exhibitions in Durban to promote their climate policies, Canada is missing in action. Other countries, even heavy polluters such as China and the United States, are organizing panels and speaking daily to the world’s media at the conference. Canada is nearly invisible, except for a tightly restricted briefing to a handful of Canadian media in a small hotel room, more than a kilometre from the conference site, where Environment Minister Peter Kent issues his daily statements.
Members of Parliament at the Durban summit, including Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and deputy NDP environment critic Laurin Liu, have been barred from Mr. Kent’s daily briefings. They were also refused accreditation in Canada’s delegation at Durban, forcing them to seek accreditation from other countries, such as Papua New Guinea.”
Read the full article on The Globe & Mail.
7 December 2011
Greenpeace spells out Climatefail at Parliament Hill, in protest of the government’s retrograde stance on climate change and emissions mitigation at Durban. Elizabeth May goes as far to say that Canada will play the role of saboteur. Although I’d call it “obstructivist,” I basically agree.
Check out the full-res shots here.
30 November 2011
A recent bulletin from the Conservative war office warns: “We have seen what the NDP can do. In Ontario, we remember what happened when the NDP got hold of the reins of power: tens of thousands of jobs lost, an economy totally mismanaged, and skyrocketing taxes.”
I know. Bob Rae is a Liberal now. It was Ontario, not Canada. It was 1990. North America was experiencing its worst recession since the Great Depression and governments of all stripes, including Brian Mulroney’s federal Conservatives, were struggling with deficits and high interest rates.
Doesn’t matter. Rae’s short-lived experience as premier has long been a truncheon in the Conservative armour — a handy way of shifting focus from today’s reality to ancient history of questionable relevance. Even if an inexperienced Rae did make costly mistakes — and, at the same time, save jobs at Algoma Steel with a bailout not unlike Harper’s rescue package for the auto industry — what does that have to do with Layton, a different politician in a different era?
If the common link is party label, why choose Rae’s government? Why not compare a notional Layton-led coalition to Roy Romanow’s stable and successful regime in Saskatchewan, or Gary Doer’s equally popular NDP government in Manitoba? If New Democrats are genetically irresponsible, as Harper seems to imply, why did he send Doer to Washington as Canada’s ambassador? Why did “socialist” provinces consistently run surpluses and spend frugally?
~ from the astute Susan Riley of the Ottawa Citizen. This is a must-read article for those wondering about the potentials and perils of NDP leadership.
29 April 2011
The G&M endorsement cobbled together some of the more important reasons why the Harper government is regressing many of our democratic mechanisms and processes, and then proceeded to recommend the party?
I’m going to hazard a guess that any federal government, left, centre or right, would’ve handled the economic crisis in more or less the same way the Conservatives (and most other industrialized nations) did. So I really think the G&M is stretching it on Tory economic credibility, and conveniently ignores pre-recession patterns. Harper had the luxury of governing at the peak of a boom, and so the government’s “good times” economic mettle has not yet been tested. The G&M also ignores that no federal party, if elected, is likely to make markedly different changes to our economic policy (in my humble opinion).
Anyhow:
The campaign of 2011 – so vicious and often vapid – should not be remembered fondly. But that will soon be behind us. If the result is a confident new Parliament, it could help propel Canada into a fresh period of innovation, government reform and global ambition. Stephen Harper and the Conservatives are best positioned to guide Canada there.
Like the fucking Titanic.
I can (sort of) understand the myriad reasons why the Globe would endorse the Conservatives and Stephen Harper to lead another government, but this is a collection of the weakest arguments for staying the course I’ve ever had the displeasure of reading. A hungover 18-year-old Intro to Poli Sci student could rip this set of logic to shreds.
28 April 2011
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